The Museum of Jewish Art and History opened in 1998 in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, one of the most beautiful mansions in the Marais district, built between 1644 and 1650.

The museum was preceded by the Musée d’Art Juif on Rue des Saules, which was founded in 1948 by survivors of the Shoah. The term Shoah refers to the systematic persecution and extermination of European Jews during the Nazi era. In Hebrew, Shoah means “catastrophe” or “great disaster”.

The museum is a public, non-profit institution and also houses several long-term loans from the Musée national du Moyen Âge, including the collection of Isaac Strauss (1806–1888), a French-Jewish violinist, composer and collector of the 19th century.

Today, the museum’s collection comprises more than 12,000 artworks and archival documents, offering a rich insight into Jewish history, culture and heritage.